I have to bump this thread again, because I see that it's not just the Muppets that have been affected by this, but the Krofft Puppets as well.
Now, granted, the Krofft Puppets have never exactly been as spectacular as the Muppets, mainly because the Kroffts themselves have admitted that, unlike Jim, they were never interested in the artistic possibilities of puppetry, and always went for the commercial value: their shows were always done on incredibly small budgets, and as such, their puppets were put together with chewing gum almost. Of course, however, given low-budget was always their look, and as such, it's easy to identify trippy full-bodied puppets as theirs: highly visible seams, mouths that don't lip sync properly, and googly eyes that have no focus. But, as I said, it was their look, and as such, that's pretty much what you come to expect from the Kroffts.
But . . . heh . . . even the Krofft Puppets now have a really "advanced" look to them, so much so that they don't even look like Krofft Puppets at all! Take a look at a couple of comparisons:
Here's what Krofft talking trees looked like back in the days of H.R. PUFNSTUF:
Compared to a pair of talking trees (named Sid and Marty) that recently showed up on MUTT N STUFF:
Another example? Remember SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS? That show's recently been rebooted (dumped straight to Amazon); remember his two meathead brothers, Blurp and Slurp?
Take a look at them now:
Quite a stark contrast from the Kroffts' hey day in the 70s and 80s.